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tv   News4 Today  NBC  November 1, 2012 5:00am-6:00am EDT

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pledged federal support for the long haul. and the lights are back on in almost every home that lost power during sandy in our area. about 3,100 dominion virginia customers in our area still have no electricity. pepco says just seven customers are without power. >> outages at some schools mean another day for some students in our area to be off. in anarundel county, four schools are still closed. louis witown elementary is still without power. all schools in pendleton county, west virginia, are closed because of power outage issues.
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temperatures are down to around 40 degrees this morning. sandy spinning over southeastern canada still. you still see the huge effects of this storm. we're still getting scattered sprinkles from western pennsylvania into western maryland. thankfully, the big snow machine has ended out there. the dark blue areas are around freezing. that's much of western pennsylvania into western maryland. the light blue generally in the low to mid 40s. we're going to hold steady here for the next several hours and not warm up much today. hour by hour, by 6:00 a.m., it actually may dip down to the upper 30s and maybe a few sprinkles around, and then by noontime, maybe a few breaks in the clouds and only the low 50s and a northwesterly wind, and a little sunshine breaking out by
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mid afternoon. highs mid 50s, mid afternoon. low 50s late afternoon. sunsets at 6:07. those will be an hour earlier beginning sunday morning, as we fall back over the weekend. i'm back in ten minutes. danella is here now with a look at traffic. good morning. >> good morning. first let's start 395 in virginia, southbound. washington boulevard had a crash blocking the right and the left lane. let's head back up to damascus now. if you're traveling along ridge road, it's closed between woodville road because of an accident that now has downed wires. on the roadway, not safe at all. please avoid the road if possible. if you're traveling the icc, hardly any volume. traveling westbound, just past georgia avenue, have a report of an accident and it's blocking the left lane and the center lane. but again, very light volume. so if you're traveling westbound, just stick to the left lane. developing story in
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northeast washington. right now, firefighters are trying to figure out what sparked a warehouse fire near gallaudet university. this is happening at the union market building at the intersection of fourth and moore street. megan mcgrath is there with the latest. good morning. >> reporter: you can see behind me here a lot of the firefighters still here on the scene. at this point, the fire is under control. they're keeping a close eye on it, though, because it had a number of flare-ups through the evening. they just want to make sure that they're not going to have any more hot spots become a problem here, so they're going to keep a presence here on the scene. this fire broke out at around 9:00 last night. this is the old union market area. this is a wholesale market. there are a number of small vendors. many of them specializing in meats, poultry, fish and the like. wholesale vendors here. many internationally -- with an international flare here. exactly what caused the fire to start or the blaze to crop up here late last night, still
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under investigation. i can tell you that there are a number of businesses that are impacted. we don't have an exact number, but there's a very large building that is involved in this fire, a number of different businesses located within that building. now, at this point, they have cut power to the entire area, and so folks who are in some of th other unaffected businesses are arriving here on the scene, but they're not going to be able to work today because right now, they don't have power. >> multiple fires in that building. they have all the electricity off, so we have no electricity. >> reporter: as i mentioned, this was a pretty tricky fire for firefighters to battle here. they thought they had a handle on it there for a while. but there was a flare-up later on in the evening and they were concerned about structural collapse. it was just too dangerous for firefighters to be inside the building. they pulled everybody back and began to attack the blaze again. right now, everything under control, but they have quite a
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presence here. of course, we'll continue to follow this and try to get some information about perhaps what started this fire early this morning. reporting live in northeast, megan mcgrath, news4. back to you in the studio. melissa malay with news. >> about the shootingover night, we know two people are in custo custody. the campus has reopened. it was between two men who were not students. one man pulled out a gun and shot the other who was in critical condition. three others are hurt but are expected to be okay. take a look at some video we have for you out of hollywood. three people hurt there after someone fired shots into a crowd. one person in that case in critical condition. and three people have been arrested. at the live desk, melissa malay, news4. police are investigating an armed robbery just off the campus of university of maryland. it happens in the 7300 block of
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baltimore avenue right in downtown college park, near the college park shopping center. police did alert students about that robbery. there is still a search for suspects right now. police in the district are searching for two gunmen after two separate shootings overnight. one happened at the corner of fourth and v streets in northeast. the call came in around 9:30. police found a man shot to death. if you were in that area or saw or heard anything, you're asked to call police. and a teen is in critical condition after being shot in southeast washington. this happened around 8:30 last night. police have not released many details about what led to that shooting. right now, hundreds of workers are trying to contain a diesel spill in new jersey caused by hurricane sandy. already more than 300,000 gallons of diesel leaked into the waters that lead into the atlantic. the spill is happening at the motiva oil tank facility in woodbridge, new jersey. it's not clear when that spill could be contained. >> researchers are looking for
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two children who vanished in staten island during the storm. 21 people were reported missing since the storm hit. this is video from a new york city police helicopter showing crews rescuing people from flooded homes tuesday. rescuers found 14 people alive. three others were dead. a couple is also missing, but police say their car is gone, leading them to believe the two drove out. many people in that area tried to ride out the storm despite evacuation orders. today, new york governor andrew cuomo declared a transportation emergency. here's why. subway tunnels are completely flooded out there. the army corps of engineers now bringing in pumping devices to get that water out. the company that runs the subway and bus system in new york city waived fees for today and tomorrow. however, not all subway lines are running because some stations and tunnels remain flooded. other stations are out of service because of lingering power outages. we're getting a better look at the dangerous conditions when hurricane sandy hit. take a look at this dramatic
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video from firefighters. you can see the homes there engulfed in flames. firefighters had strong winds and the threat of rising water prevented them from battling the fire monday night. fire responders evacuated people inside their homes. no word if anyone was hurt. incredible images there. >>. your time right now is 5:08. desperate times right now along the jersey coastline. >> we need more resources, so anyone who's listening to this in the city of hoboken or neighboring towns who can get to us, we ask you to come and deliver your supplies. >> the pleas for help coming from that area's top leader. and a search for a killer. which incentive police are using to find the person who killed a mother in waldorf. >> and will we see more sunshine as we dry out more from the storms? your weather and traffic right after this.
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time for your weather and traffic. good morning. i'm tom kierein. over the last several hours, quite a bit of cloudiness continuing to rotate in from the north and west. a few sprinkles. extreme northern montgomery, western, howard, and points west of there. a few sprinkles may be coming through. right now generally in the upper
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30s, low to mid 40s most of the region. hour by hour, a bit of a blustery wind. a little sunshine break out this afternoon. by mid afternoon, into the mid 50s. a look at friday into next week, the seven-day outlook coming up in ten minutes. how's traffic? >> overnight accident in damascus, still slowing you down and block all of your lanes along ridge road. downed wires on the road and the lane is blocked in both directions. over to florida avenue, still seeing that shut down in northeast between 3rd and 6th streets because of fire activity. in prince george's county, nice and clear for you. if you're making your trip on the beltway, montgomery county as well as virginia not seeing any incidents for you. over to you. the time right now is 5:12. ahead, the airport reopening days after sandy that could help you get a flight out of the region. the important thing that police were handing out, coming up. [ earnest ] out of the blue one day,
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we were told to build a 30-foot stage. gathered the guys and we built that 30-foot stage, not knowing what it was for. just days later, all three shifts were told to assemble in the warehouse. a group of people walked out on that stage and told us that the plant is now closed
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and all of you are fired... i looked both ways, i looked at the crowd, and...we all just lost our jobs. we don't have an income. mitt romney made over 100 million dollars by shutting down our plant and devastated our lives. turns out that when we built that stage, it was like building my own coffin, and it just made me sick. [ male announcer ] priorities usa action is responsible for the content of this advertising.
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we need more food. we need more resources. so anyone who's listening to this in the city of hoboken or neighboring towns who can get to us, we ask you to come and deliver your supplies. >> desperate pleas for help from towns in new jersey, as they struggle to recover from the ravages of sandy. danielle lee with more on the massive cleanup there.
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>> reporter: many of those popular new jersey communities people like to vacation to still completely cut off from the rest of society. officials saying it is just not safe to go over there. when you walk around toms river where i am, just constant reminders of damage caused by sandy. a boat just sitting along the road. a piece of a couch. their homes were ripped apart. later today, we expected many of the first respond who are were here yesterday rescuing people ho were stranded among the damage and homes that had been ripped from foundations, stuck behind streets covered in sand. now that the rescue efforts have really been accomplished, they are going to be looking at the safety efforts, trying to make these communities safe for people to begin going back, looking at their homes and trying to make repairs. some of the big concerns, open gas lines. they need to begin those safety precautions so they can then begin the cleanup. that's what we expect to see happening today. a lot of people probably going to be gathering here in toms
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river. many people that are evacuated and wanting to find out when are they going to be able to get back to their homes. at this point, they're just getting exhausted and trying to find some sense of normalcy. this morning, we're learning a third person died in maryland in the aftermath of sandy. firefighters in annapolis say a contractor was killed when a tree fell on him on homewood road just outside the naval academy. we're told the victim was in his late 40s or early 50s. the other two sandy related deaths in maryland happened in anne arundel county and montgomery county. flooding is still a problem in frederick, maryland. the flooding means lengthy damage, downed trees and damaged wires is widespread as well. some residents are without power
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for a fourth day. the winding roads and narrow driveways mean repairs could take a little longer. several roads in fairfax county also remain closed this morning, not because of falling trees and downed power lines. in the lake barcroft neighborhood, one woman who is 100 years old is staying with her daughter nearby. this morning a community is grieving after a 15-year-old girl was struck and killed by a car. she was trying to cross several lanes of traffic in germantown yesterday morning when a driver in a ford fusion hit her. she was a sophomore at seneca valley high school. the man who was behind the wheel of the car had a green light at the time of the accident. so far, no charges have been filed. almost a week has passed since a mother was killed and her husband wounded along a trail in charles county. this morning, police are still looking for gunman. the man in a sketch we're going to show you here opened fire on a married couple in waldorf,
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maryland. the husband was seriously wounded but the wife later died. people out last night for trick or treating say they were shocked to hear about it. >> it's kind of a scary thought. i never thought this would happen in our neighborhood. we've never had a problem walking. one of our back areas where we live has a path and we've walked on it before. we've never had problems. >> i guess you have to continue and keep on going. but just be on guard a little bit, take precautions. >> police have now tripled the reward money to $15,000 for information that leads to an arrest. virginia state police are warning people to be on the look out for a man whom they say threw three pipe bombs into homes in northern virginia. the suspect is 25-year-old lawrence stewart ii. officers say he threw homemade bombs into homes in stafford county and fredericksburg on tuesday. they believe he was targeting his girlfriend and two law enforcement officers who arrested him in the past. coming up on 5:21 now on your thursday morning, a chilly thursday morning at that.
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tom kierein here with a look at the weather. >> well, the storm formerly known as sandy is about 500 m e miles away over canada, but still bringing in some moisture off of the great lakes and circulating around, bringing some scattered sprinkles north and west of washington and up into pennsylvania and down in southern virginia. a huge area still being affected by the storm, although the winds are a lot weaker. close-in view of the radar showing a few sprinkles. panhandle of west virginia and across the potomac. might have a few scattered showers over the metro area. the light blue areas are in the 40s and the dark blue, 30s. a few areas on the eastern shore. it's near freezing western pennsylvania, where all the snow fell out in western maryland and
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in west virginia. that snow is still on the ground and we will have some melting during the daylight hours. storm team 4, four-day forecast, breezy today. we'll have winds gusting to around 20 miles an hour. we have to get some sunshine breaking out this afternoon. still a possibility for a few sprinkles this morning. we'll be anywhere near 63 for that the next several days. tomorrow morning, still a bit breezy and cold. down to the mid 30s tomorrow morning. northwest winds tomorrow gusting to 25 miles an hour. still may be a bit blustery on saturday. saturday morning near freezing. afternoon highs into the mid 50s on saturday and partly cloudy. and we turn our clocks back one hour saturday night before you go to bed. the longest weekend of the year. and on sunday, lots of sunshine. lighter winds into the low 30s in the morning, afternoon highs, mid 50s, should be great weather for the skins game. on monday, tuesday, wednesday, still a chill in the air. coal mornings and chilly afternoons, highs only low 50s
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each day. but some sunshine in and out. i will be back returning in ten minutes. danella is here now with a look at traffic. >> we'll first start off with the rails. if you're taking the orange line, metro is experiencing delays on the orange line because of a power problem. this is outside the westphal fa church metro station. the mark, a minor delay. bre not reporting delays at this time. over to the roadways, traveling westbound just pass georgia avenue, still reporting an accident. you see hardly anyone on the road. just have to let you know that traveling westbound, as you approach georgia avenue, stick to the right lane because the crash is blocking your left lane and your center lane. when i return, we'll check on a crash in damascus, maryland, that has ridge road shut down. your commute may be about to get shorter if you take the
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beltway through virginia. v-dot says the expressway could be finished earlier than expected. the toll lanes could finish as early as november 17th. you will not have to pay a toll if you have three or more people in your vehicle. you will need a special easy pass transponder for that, though. a couple alert now if you use the grocery chain wegman's, it's recalling a batch of pumpkin rolls. apparently those baked goods might contain clear plastic from the packaging. the rolls were sold between september 1st and this past tuesday, the 30th. they were sold in all of wegman's 81 stores, including those in maryland and virginia. they came in packages of whole rolls, half rolls or two slices, and they are all being recalled. you can get a refund at the wegman's service desk. >> just what you want to hear as you're waking up for the day. new research says women need to be more active and sit less. studies have shown that people
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who sit for a greater period of time are at a greater risk for diseases. women spend an average of at least nine hours a day sitting and that's just too much time. researchers say small changes will have a big impact. they recommend starting with some light activity like standing while talking on the phone or taking small breaks at work to move around. ladies, grab your pumps and take your mark. the annual high heel race -- i guess this is guys. the annual high heel race is tonight -- dupont circle. yeah, that's a guy. organizers rescheduled the race tonight because of sandy. this is a popular race. all that action begins at 7:00 tonight. >> they run fast. sandy is having an impact on d.c. united's first playoff game since 2007. united agreed to play the first
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of their games against the new york red bulls here in washington instead of on the road. red bull stadium in new jersey lost power and likely won't get it back until monday. the united red bulls face off at rfk stadium saturday, at 8:00. the second game will be at red bulls stadium next wednesday. if you have tickets, they will be honored on saturday. a lot of d.c. united players tweeted and posted saying there is a greater cause here. of course we understand. so easy to make the change. we know that people are trying to get through a very devastating time. >> if you can make it easier, make it easier. >> i might try to go to that game. coming up, just as planes try to get back on schedule, another possible delay. the demand some pilots are making that could ground more flights. and alert for people in our region trying to clean up from the storm. we'll be right back.
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and now, from washington's leading news station, this is "news4 today." looking at the stories making headlines right now, at 5:29, hurricane sandy is blamed for 74 deaths in the u.s. >> more than five million homes and businesses are without power along the east coast, that includes about 4,000 in the d.c. region. firefighters are trying to figure out what sparked a fire
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at the old union market warehouse in northeast washington. we'll have much more on those stories throughout the morning, but first, good morning to you. i'm eun yang. >> i'm aaron gilchrist. a live look outside at 4:30 this morning. 46 degrees outside our studios and some clouds. i think there were some clouds. >> typical to washington, i feel like the beautiful fall weather we had was so short-lived and we're back to cold already. >> sandy blew all the leaves off the trees. sandy made landfall monday. it's thursday. we're still being affected by it. but still getting a bit of the northwest flow. sandy sitting way up over eastern canada now. but still circulation around that bringing in some moisture, a few sprinkles showing up right now on storm team 4 satellite radar where you see those areas in green. a few sprinkles, northern shenandoah valley, frederick, washington county. these are rotating off to the east. a lot of clouds are on the metro
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area now. we'll have a lot of clouds in and out this morning and a chill in the air, low to mid 40s, most of the region from the atlantic beaches all the way into the shenandoah valley. still, there are some spots in western maryland where it's near freezing this morning. by 7:00 a.m., still a possibility of a few showers. by noontime, still clouds and a bit of a blustery wind. will get a little cloudy break there from time to time during the afternoon with a little sun peeking through. highs reaching mid 50s mid afternoon. sunsets at 6:07. i'm back in ten minutes with another update. danella is here with a look at traffic. in damascus, an overnight accident closes 27 ridge road. let's head over now to another incident. this one, fire activity along
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florida avenue in northeast, closed at florida avenue. we're talking both directions between third and sixth street. avoid it if possible. let's head over to i-66 where things look pretty good here as you make your way east and westbound. i'll give you a live look. picking up a little more volume as you head east here, but clear trip to the beltway in both directions, no accidents. inside the beltway, i-66 clear as well. i'll give you eastbound travel so you can make your way from the beltway to glebe. i'm back in ten. aaron, over to you. president obama returns to the campaign trail today. he will visit wisconsin, colorado, and nevada. they will be his first campaign stops since focusing his attention on sandy, and that break might have actually helped him in this hotly contested presidential race. tracy potts is live on capitol hill now with more. good morning. >> reporter: we haven't seen the president out on the campaign trail since last weekend. take a look. back then, speaking and shaking
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hands, but today, we're going to see that again, as you said, in three different states. we've got some new poll numbers that show the president still in a very tight race with governor romney. nbc says he's up by six in iowa, but only three and two respectively in wisconsin and new hampshire, all of those within the margin of error. reuters, quinnipiac, some other big polls showing the same thing, especially in virginia and in florida. too close to call in those states, i should say. in those states, they're calling it a tie. meantime, governor romney is spending entire day today in virginia. we'll see if he has the same toned down message that he had during three stops in florida yesterday. he didn't even mention the president by name coming off of this break from campaigning because of the storm. but some of his friend did on the campaign trail. governor jeb bush said that the president is using the dog ate my homework excuse when it comes to owning up to some of the failures of his administration.
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both of them back on the campaign trail today. air travel slowly getting back to normal after hurricane sandy. more than 500 flights. >> cancelled today and that number is expected to grow. this will help get more flights off the ground, though. laguardia airport reopening at 7:00 this morning. all carriers will operate on a limited flight schedule there. the airport has been closed since the storm hit. you see right here why. sandy turned the runways and tarmac there into a lake of sorts. as for our three airports, you can expect lingering cancellations as well. american airlines union pilots picketed at the dallas-fort worth international airport. pilots say that they are working for the same pay they were making in 1993. the union is in contract negotiations with the airline. the carrier is in bankruptcy protection. it says it is offering what it can. sandy is leaving its mark on fedex. the company says you expect service delays in the areas affected by the storm. the companies say it will keep packages meant to be delivered
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in areas that were meant to be evacuated. shipments delayed due to inclement weather are not eligible for a refund or credit. it could be another long night for poll workers in maryland. polling stations for early voting are open until 9:00 tonight and tomorrow. early voting resumed yesterday in maryland and some voters actually waited in line for three hours or longer to kathy their ballots. voting was postponed monday and tuesday because of sandy, so governor martin o'malley extended it for two days. he also extended polling station hours by three hours. >> i thought i was going to beat the line, but that's all right. i was expecting to stay in line, is i'm going to stay in until i get my chance to vote. >> i was worried. i know my vote counts. that's why we're able to go out and vote now. you can also vote early in
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d.c. between now and saturday from 8:30 until 9:00 at night. fairfax county is extending in person absentee hours. you can now vote from 8:00 in the morning to 5:00 tonight. voting centers will be open from 8:00 until 5:00 on saturday. millions of tax returns in south carolina have been hacked. the state's revenue department says social security numbers, credit card information, and business records from the returns dating back to 1998 may have been compromised. it is considered the largest cyber attack against the state tax department in u.s. history. both state and federal agencies are investigating. melissa malay is at the news desk with more. >> we just learned an announcement is expected today that charges have been filed against graham spanier. the "pittsburg post-gazette" is reporting spanier is being charged with perjury and obstruction of justice.
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spanier resigned during the sexual abuse scandal at the school. in june, jerry sandusky was convicted and sentenced to prison. up next, the impact sandy is having on a sports team in our region. >> and how the storm is leaving danger around some of the water ways in our area. changes today on the new york city subway system. what riders are being told this morning as they try to head back to work. >> we will see some more sunshine
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anncr: which do you believe? what mitt romney's tv ads say about women? or what mitt romney himself says? mitt romney: do i believe the supreme court... should overturn roe v. wade? yes. and it would be my preference that they, that they... reverse roe v. wade. hopefully reverse roe v. wade. overturn roe v. wade. planned parenthood, we're going to get rid of that. i'll cut off funding to planned parenthood. anncr: no matter what mitt romney's ads say. we know what he'll do. president obama: i'm barack obama and... i approve this message. would ban all abortions and contraception seemed a bit extreme. so i looked into it. turns out, romney doesn't oppose contraception at all. in fact, he thinks abortion should be an option
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in cases of rape, incest, or to save a mother's life. this issue's important to me, but i'm more concerned about the debt our children will be left with. i voted for president obama last time, but we just can't afford four more years. [ romney ] i'm mitt romney and i approve this message.
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[ romney ] i'm mitt romney "and what do you do?" "oh, i sell insurance like no one else." "oh, that's nice." "thank you." now, that's progressive. call or click today. welcome back. sandy is setting a record for the amount of snowfall in the great smoky mountains. take a look. two more feet of snow fell in tennessee, adding to the record snowfall already. rangers say the area usually gets four inches of snow this time of year. my goodness. two more feet of snow. two more feet, people. not inches. feet. >> unbelievable on november 1st. fortunately around here, though, as we take a live look from national harbor, no snow to speak of. certainly, though, some cold air to deal with. >> tom kierein with our forecast now. tom, good morning. >> good morning. time for your weather and traffic on the 1s. at 5:41, we've got a blustery
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wind. we are still being affected by sandy. it is such a huge storm. it's spinning over eastern canada. it's weakened a lot but it's bringing in some moisture. those areas in green, a few sprinkles from near baltimore and across west of there, northern maryland into frederick county and washington county. those sprinkles heading east. all those areas in dark blue in the cold, low 30s out of the mountains and in the light blue, it's in the low to mid 40s and that's most of our region, including the metro area. storm team 4, hour by hour today, 7:00 a.m. still a possibility of a few sprinkles and clouds, the low 40s. mid 50s mid afternoon. a look at the seven-day outlook is in ten minutes. a look at traffic now with danella. >> still seeing delays on the rails. if you're taking the orange line, metro experiencing a power problem out of the west falls church power station. let's head over to the mark train. minor delay, just six minutes.
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this is train number 403. the ingi delays at this time. when you get to clarksburg, that's where it is clear. as you get closest to the beltway, here's a look at montrose road. no accidents on i-270 north or southbound. >> looking pretty good there. it is 45 degrees. the emergency rule which will make the commute in new york a unique one today. and next, when amtrak says it will resume service to and from new york. can you hear me now? the reason why you might have had a lot of dropped cell phone calls recently. you're watching "news4 tod
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breaking news for you. brand-new video into the newsroom from the university of southern california, after a shooting there overnight. we spoke with usc police a short time ago. two people are in custody. this started with a fight at a halloween party between two men who are not students. one of them pulled out a gun and shot the other who's now in critical condition. three others are hurt but are expected to be okay. and this video has also just come into our newsroom. a fuel tanker explosion in saudi arabia has killed 14 people and hurt at least 60. the truck exploded after hitting an underpass. the death toll could rise as rescue crews pick through charred vehicles and rubble. amazing video there. for the first time since sandy hit, new york city is opening its subway system with limited service. sandy flooded several tunnels. andrew cuomo declared a transportation emergency.
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what does the declaration mean for new yorkers, especially those trying to get around this morning? >> reporter: well, it's going to mean limited service, but at least some service, which is a good thing. where we're standing here, this is the bridge that goes from long island city queens all the way into midtown manhattan. there's also a train here, the m train. we have seen at least one train, so that is a good sign that things are moving, but not all things are up and running, so people will have to take some time and patience. 15 minutes before some restrictions are about to begin. we have smooth sailing going from queens to manhattan that. will probably soon change. the nypd is already at different locations here along the bridge getting ready to check for passengers. there's a strict restriction from 6:00 a.m. all the way until midnight for the next couple of days. three passengers to a car. if not, that car will be diverted and not allowed to cross into manhattan. as you can see here, the check points are already being set up by the nypd. you can see already this
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intersection, it's pretty congested as it is. so imagine if someone doesn't have those number of people that they need, they'll have to be diverted. we just talked from a lieutenant from the nypd that is trying to figure that thing out because this area is very tight and congested, on where those people would go. so that might limit it. mayor michael bloomberg and others are saying listen, these are the restrictions. please keep three people to a car. even asked people who may not have three people or know three people to come to areas like where we are here, wait it out and go into a car, maybe meet a new friend or two. back to you guys. >> thanks so much. amtrak is also slowly bringing service back online. regional service is running to newark. there is no asella express service today. the railroad expected to resume service to and from new york city tomorrow. crews are removing water from flooded train tunnels under the hudson and east rivers so that crews can repair the tracks, is signals and the power systems. president obama telling
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victims of sandy the federal government will not forget them. he and chris christie toured the devastation the storm left behind the garden state yesterday. the president praised chris christie for his response to sandy. >> governor christie throughout this process has been responsive, he's been aggressive in making sure that the state got out in front of this incredible storm. and i think the people of new jersey recognize that he has put his heart and soul into making sure that the people of new jersey bounce back even stronger than before. >> christie has commended the president of his handling of the disaster as well. >> this morning, d.c. leaders are warning people to stay out of the swollen rivers and creeks, but insist the drinking water is safe. at the height of the storm, some overloaded sewage facilities dumped millions of gallons of raw sewage into local rivers and streams, and with all the debris and sewage overflowing the rivers, some people are
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wondering if tap water is safe to drink. >> there are no problems with public drinking water in this region. we have safe and adequate drinking supplies in the entire metropolitan area. >> d.c. water says the district is spending nearly $3 billion in the coming years to better handle storm water and sewage. it is a scam that sometimes follows a disaster. thieves posting as utility workers, preying on the elderly. police tell news4 it already happened twice in bethesda and chef chevy chase, maryland. you should always ask for i.d. if you're suspicious, tell them no and call 911. this is a familiar sight and sound to many people in our area. crews working overtime to clean up toppled tree s brought down y sandy. inspectors can survey the damage to the homes. until then, these alexandria residents are dealing with condemned homes. >> it just blew over and was
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leaning on the house, and when the city came, they said you've got to get this tree off the house or you're not going to be able to live here. >> i'm homeless. i'm a realtor and i have no home. >> tough out there. to move just one tree, it costs about $5,000. oh, my goodness. >> of course, in instances like this, a lot of states put their price gouging laws into effect to make sure people don't get ripped nauf desperation. >> and neighbors, depending on which jurisdiction, it can get messy. tom kierein is here with our forecast. >> thankfully dry weather continues. we're starting off with some amazing pictures coming in. this photo come in from the shenandoah valley. the blue ridge mountains are now white. this is a picture from luray, virginia. they got up to a foot of snow up
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there above 3,000 feet, along skyline drive. look at that. amazing to see white blue ridge mountains in late october. and this is the scene out in garrett county. unbelievable. they got a couple of feet of snow there. this was sent in by folks at the savage river lodge in garrett county. tremendous amounts of snow there and still power outages. they're working hard to get the power back. here locally, we just have some clouds coming through this morning, and off to our west and northwest areas there are a few light sprinkles of rain. just a few sprinkles of rain in the northern shenandoah valley. parts of allegany county. these are passing off to the east. overall, a lot of cloudiness around and a chill in the air. you'll need your winter coat to stay comfortable at the bus stop this morning and you might need an umbrella too as we get a few sprinkles coming through. it's only around 40 degrees much of the region.
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here for your morning commute, we'll have a lot of clouds around. by 7:00 a.m., still a possibility of a few sprinkles. by noontime, not warming up much. still a lot of clouds around, cool and breezy. winds gusting to around 20 miles an hour. and then by this afternoon, mid afternoon, we ought to hit mid 50s. this evening, right back down to the 40s. and part of saturday, near freezing son friday morning. afternoon highs tomorrow, the low 50s and partly cloudy. saturday, afternoon highs into the mid 50s. we fall back on saturday night, although some may be falling over. we will have -- although some may be falling over. with all the work we've put in, we'll be falling over. as we get into sunday, we'll have some sunshine back. good weather for the skins game. still a chill in the air, but
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continued dry weather. danella is upright, and she's got our traffic for us. >> for now i am. my birthday is on saturday. i've got an extra hour of sleep. i'm falling over! first, let's get through it together, starting in the district. still seeing florida avenue shut down. this is due to an earlier fire, so fire activity close to florida avenue between third street and sixth street. so careful you're traveling in northeast. over to damascus, still seeing downed wires. earlier accident happened around 9:00 p.m. last night, and still seeing ridge road shut down between main street. over to washington boulevard, looks like a driver struck a deer and as a result of this accident, please be careful as you're making your commute. you know it's deer time and they're out and about. >> celebrating that big 2-5 this weekend. >> oh, yes! >> thanks, danella. the obama administration trying the keep the gas flowing as gas stations in the mid-atlantic and northeast are dealing with what
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happened after sandy. the epa temporarily waived some clean air act requirements in 16 states and the district. the waiver lets gas stations sell conventional gasoline instead of cleaner burning reformulated gas. the waivers last through november 20th. hurricane sandy is expected to have a major effect on financial reports in the auto and housing markets. shartia brantley joins us live with news for your money. >> reporter: good morning. auto makers like chrysler, ford, gm, will report october sales later today. sales are forecast to rise 11% from a year ago, which would make it the best october for the industry since 2007. analysts say monday's superstorm on the east coast likely led to the loss of about 100,000 vehicles. dealers should be able to make that up this month. and sandy may have been very bad news for homeowners, but it's bringing some good news to the residential construction sector. "the new york times" reports construction companies will be getting a lot of business.
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flood waters are pumped out of the neighborhood, power lines are restored and roads are clear of debris. they'll also be able to hire lots of workers. many of whom have been idle due to the housing slump over the past five years. guys, it's interesting to note that lumber futures on the chicago mercantile exchange soared yesterday. the trade there is framing lumber used mainly in home construction. >> thank you. sam's club is helping recharge those left in the dark by sandy, a total of 18 sam's clubs in five states including maryland are now open to members and nonmembers. the locations serving as power recharging stations, offering extra power outlets for free recharging of personal laptops, cell phones and ipads. the store will remain open to the public until november 9th. fewer people are asking can you hear me now. cell phone towers are getting slowly up and running again.
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about 25 towers were out of servicen tuesday. less than 20% now. land line service is better than that. sandy is having an impact on d.c. united's first playoff game since 2005. they agreed to play the first of their two games against the new york red bulls here in washington instead of on the road. it lost power during sandy and likely won't get it back until monday. that means the united and red bulls will face off at rfk stadium saturday at 8:00. if you have tickets to the game, they will be honored on saturday. next at 6:00, how president obama and mitt romney made a little girl cry. an amazing video of the moment hurricane sandy ripped a tree from the ground. >> we are expecting temperatures to not climb a ton. cloudy skies the deal with right now, and we're keeping an eye on the roads for you. all that and more when "news4 today" continues.
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and now, from washington's leading news station, this is "news4 today." a developing story. a fire roars back to life in

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